Ink fountain liner and installation means therefor



y 9, 1967 w. WINTZER 3,318,239

INK FOUNTAIN LINER AND INSTALLATION MEANS THEREFOR Filed Oct. 29, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. W/LL IAM W/NTZER A 7'TORNE V W. WINTZER May 9, 1967 INK FOUNTAIN LINER AND INSTALLATION MEANS THEREFOR 2 SheetsSheet 2 Filed Oct. 29, 1964 INVENTOR. WILL/AM W/NTZER A TTORNE Y United States Patent 3,318,239 INK FOUNTAIN LINER AND INSTALLATION MEANS THEREFOR William Wintzer, East Orange, NJ. Handcraft Co., 224 Market St, Newark, NJ. 07102) Filed Oct. 29, 1964, Ser. No. 407,328 15 Claims. (Cl. 101-364) In general, this invention relates to a new and improved liner for ink fountains, for printing and duplicating machines and installation means therefor. More specifically, this invention relates to a disposable and replacable liner especially adapted for use in printing and duplicating machine of the character in which relatively very viscous ink is employed and which is applied from a stationary ink fountain to an inking roll from which it is transferred to the printing or duplicating mechanism in the machine.

The ink which is customarily employed in such ink fountains is generally in the form of a paste which is applied to the fountain and transferred to an ink roll by wiping or frictional engagement of the latter with the ink. It is desirable or necessary, in the use of such duplicating apparatus, to clean the ink fountain from time to time and this involves some difficulty because, among other reasons, the ink tends to stain hands of the operator and this cleaning operation is, in general, an unpleasant task.

There has been provided, in the past, as exemplified by the teaching of US Patent No. 2,382,103, disposable liners for ink fountains which were intended to eliminate the need for placing the ink directly on the fountain so that the operator need merely remove the liner and replace it with a clean one to effect the cleaning operation. However, the disposable liners utilized in the past had many faults. Initially, the ink would tend to flow under the lip of the liner adjacent to the inking roll, thus requiring the operator to have to clean the ink fountain. Thus, the object of the liner was not effective. Further, ink would tend to be forced into the corners of the ink fountain, and thus under the edges of the liner, further staining the fountain and requiring its later cleaning. Still further, to avoid the problems of the type of liner shown in US. Patent No. 2,382,103, present day practice is to utilize liners having pressure-sensitive adhesive coatings thereon which liners are glued to the fountain so as to prevent the seepage of ink thereon. However, such pressure-sensitive adhesive coated liners also are defective in that, when removed, they often leave a glue residue on the fountain which must be cleaned. Further, the pressure-sensitive adhesive coatings must be carefully removed by the operator and thus, require a degree of attention which he is unwilling to give. Still further, the utilization of pressure-sensitive adhesive coated liners gives rise to waste paper around the printing machine which must be disposed of.

Therefore, it is the general object of this invention to avoid and overcome the foregoing and other difficulties of the prior art practices by the provision of a new and better liner for an ink fountain of a duplicating or printing machine which is easily disposable and will allow the operator to clean the fountain without staining or soiling his hands.

Another object of this invention is the provision of a new and better liner for an ink fountain which will prevent ink from staining the fountain without the need for special gluing of the liner to the fountain.

Still another object of this invention is the provision of a new and better liner and installation means therefor which will effectively prevent ink from gathering in the corners of the fountain and thus necessitating the cleaning thereof.

3,318,239 Patented May 9, 1967 A further object of this invention is the provision of a new and better ink fountain liner which can be used with present-day ink fountains where the edge of the fountain is sharp and would normally cut the liner during use so as to render it ineffective.

Accordingly, a still further object of this invention is the provision of a new and novel liner for use in an ink fountain of a duplicating or printing machine employing very viscous ink or ink paste which may be spread upon the liner itself which is operative to maintain the ink fountain in a clean condition without fear of ink being forced underneath the liner and, in which the ink supply in the ink fountain may be easily replenished by merely removing the liner in a simple and easy manner and disposing of it, and replacing the old liner thus disposed of with a new liner, to which a fresh supply of ink may be applied.

Other objects will appear hereinafter.

For the purpose of illustrating the invention, there are shown in the drawings, forms which are presently preferred; it being understood, however, that this invention is not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown.

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view of a duplicating machine employing an ink fountain of the character hereinbefore referred to and having one form of the liner of the present invention detachably mounted in position for use thereon.

FIGURE 2 is an exploded view of one end of the detachable liner of the present invention and the installation means therefor.

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of a typical form of ink fountain on which the new disposable liner may be employed as embodied in the duplicating machine illustrated in FIGURE 1 and showing the new disposable liner removably mounted thereon.

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of a second type of disposable liner for use with large ink fountains showing the installation means which would be utilized with the liner.

In FIGURE 1, a typical lithographic duplicating apparatus embodying an ink fountain of the character with which the present invention may be employed is partially shown in FIGURE 1 and generally designated by the numeral 10. The apparatus 10 includes a supporting frame 12 on which an ink roll 14 is suitably journaled and by means of which ink may be transferred by way of an idler roll 16 and intermittent rolls 18 and 20 to a printing cylinder 22 and then to impression-receiving paper or the like, or in the case of offset lithographic printing, by way of an offset rotary printing blanket roll.

It is to be understood, however, that the present invention is not concerned with the construction of the duplicating or printing machine with which the new disposable liner may be employed, and hence a detailed description of the duplicating machine will not be given and only such parts will be described herein as are deemed necessary for an understanding of the present invention.

A typical form of an ink fountain with which the present invention may be employed, and as embodied in a duplicating machine 10, is generally indicated by the numeral 24 and comprises a frame or body 26 having end walls 28 and 30 on opposite sides thereof. The end walls 28 and 30 include spaced arms 32 and 34 provided with bearing surfaces 36 and 38. Each of the spaced arms 32 and 34 of the end Walls 28 and 30 provides an inlet or mouth to the adjacent bearing surfaces 36 and 38. Each of the bearing surfaces 36 and 38 is adapted for reception of a squared end portion or bearing surface 40 of a standard hearing which is carried by the frame 12 of the duplicating or printing machine with which the ink fountain 24 is employed.

The frame 26 of the ink fountain 24 includes an upwardly extending flange 42 which is composed of a lower block 46 and an upper plate 44 which are interconnected by screws 47 (FIGURE 3), and held by and between the block 46 and plate 44 is a downwardly extending plate or ductor blade 48which projects downwardly and tangentially relative to the peripheral surface of the ink fountain roller 14.

The ink fountain 24 also includes a horizontally extending bottom wall 50 and mounted in a downwardly extending flange 52 of the ink fountain 24 is a row of horizontally extending adjusting screws 54 which are adapted to bear, at their inner ends, against the ductor blade 48 so as to adjust the latter, and the disposable liner 56 arranged thereon, relative to the peripheral surface of the ink fountain roller 14.

In FIGURE 2, there is shown partially the liner 56 and the means for installing the liner on the ink fountain 24. The liner 56 is preferably manufactured from a die cut and stamped piece of polyethylene material which is impervious to the corrosive action of the solvents employed in lithographic printing and duplicating inks and the like as well as resistant to the friction of drag and consequent abrasion caused by the rotation of the ink fountain roller 14 upon the viscous ink paste carried by the liner 56 when the latter is in use upon the ink fountain. Further, the polyethylene material is flexible so as to easily conform to the shape of the ink fountain. Although polyethylene has been noted as the preferred material,

other materials, well known in the art, which would have the same properties as enumerated above, can be utilized in the substitution therefor.

The liner 56.is, as mentioned, die cut and, in such process is provided with a raised portion 58 conforming to the shape of the plate 44 and, is further provided with a flat portion 60 which extends to a distance greater than the width of the ductor blade 48. That is, the portion 60 extends beyond the tip of the ductor blade 48 so that the ink generally designated by the numeral 61 will not be able to reach the ductor blade 48 by reason of the enlarged width of the flat portion 60. The liner 56 is held in place on the ink fountain 24 by two clamps 62 and 63 adapted to engage the opposite end walls 28 and 30 and pressure plates 64 and 66 associated therewith. The pressure plates 64 and 66 are positioned flat against the inner side walls of end walls 28 and 30 and are held in place by the U-shaped clamps 62 and 63 which have a width corresponding to the combined width of a particular end wall and its associated pressure plate. The pressure plate 64 will be described in detail, it being understood that the pressure plate 66 is merely the mirror image thereof. The pressure plate 64 comprises a flat bottom edge 68 which is adapted to be placed against the liner 56 along the end wall 28. The bottomedge 68-ends in an abutment 70 which is intended to be engaged with the plate 44 of the fountain 24. That is, the pressure plate 64 will be forced against the plate 44 and further pressed down against the liner 56. The top edge 72 of the pressure plate 64 conforms to the top edge of the end wall 28 so that when the clamp 62 is in place, it forces the bottom edge 68 firmly against the liner 56 so as to prevent ink from forcing itself between the liner 56 and the ductor blade 48 adjacent the end walls. It is also preferred,'that the pressure plate 64 be manufactured of a non-absorbent material which is semi-resilient so as to be easily maintained in place. For this purpose,'it has been found that cork i especially useful in that its inherent resilience is maintained over long periods of time so that the clamp 62 will always be effective. It should further be noted that the pressure plate 64 has a leading curvilinear edge 74 which conforms partially to the surface 36 of the end wall 28. Thus the pressure plate 64 will not interfere with the operation of the roll 14 and is further operative to prevent leakage between the edges of the liner 56 and the ink fountain 24 adjacent the end walls 28 and 30.

.in place.

It can easily be seen that to utilize the liner 56 of the present invention, it is merely necessary to insert the liner in place with the raised portion 58 fitting over the plate 44 and the clamps and pressure plates forced down in the manner shown in FIGURE 3. Then the ink can be placed on the flat portion 60 and the duplicating machine operated in the standard manner. After a given period of time, when the liner 56 should be replaced, it is merely necessary to remove the clamps 62 and 63 and their associated pressure plates 64 and 66 and then remove the liner 56. The ink fountain 24 will remain clean and it only necessary to replace the discarded liner with a new liner 56 which is fitted and secured in place by the clamps and pressure plates as had been done previously.

It will be noted that the above was accomplished without the need for special glues as is now utilized, and further, that the liner fits securely in position and ink will not leak underneath the liner by reason of the extended edge of the flat portion 60 whose width is greater than the width of the ductor blade 48 on which it rests.

In FIGURE 4, there is shown a second embodiment of the present invention in the form of a liner 74 adapted for use with large printing machines with heavy duty ink fountains. For such apparatus, there is provided a three layer ink fountain liner in the form of an outer layer of thin, flexible vinyl material 76 to which has been heat sealed tissue paper 78 approximately .002 inch in thickness. The vinyl-tissue paper is cut in a manner to conform generally to an ink fountain with an edge 80 intended to overlap the edge of the ductor blade of ink fountain on which the liner is to be placed. It is very normal in large printing machines that the ductor blade of the ink fountain will have a sharp edge as opposed to the beveled edge of the ductor blade 48 of FIGURE 1. The vinyl-tissue paper portion of the liner 74 is dot glued in the manner shown in FIGURE 4 to light weight card stock so as to prevent warping of the card stock with respect to the vinyltissue paper 'layer. The card stock layer 82 is cut .so that its leading edge 84 is'of a length substantially equal to the length of the ductor blade of the ink fountain on which it is applied. In this manner, the layer 82 acts as a spacer spacing the vinyl-tissue paper layer from the ductor blade so as to prevent the cutting of the vinyl-tissue paper layer by the sharp edge of the ink fountain ductor blade. Further, it is desirable to keep the portion of the liner which is underneath the roller as thin as possible as most printers think that a thick liner would prevent them from accurately controlling the amount of ink being fed to the roller.

In order to hold the liner 74 in place, two pressure plates 84 and 86 are provided which are clamped to the fountain (not .shown except as indicated in dotted 'lines) to force the liner into a position similar to that shown with respect to FIGURE 3. That is, the pressure plates 84 and 86 are held in place by the clamps 88 and 90 with their flat bottom edges 92 extending from an abutment on the fountain to a point immediately below the inking roller thereof. The pressure plate 84 is forced into position by the clamp 88 and has a top edge 94 conforming to the top edge of the ink fountain and which top edge is adapted to be pressed into place by the inverted U-shaped clamp 88. The pressure plate 84 further has a curved surface 95 which partially conforms to the curved openings in the end walls of the ink fountain to which it applies in a similar manner as was discussed with respect to surfaces 36 and 38 in FIGURE 3.

Accordingly, it has been seen, that the liner of the present invention is normally manufactured of a thin, light weight, flexible material which is non-corrosive, inexpensive to manufacture, and needs no glue to be held Further, by utilizing the installation means of the present invention, there can be no seepage of the ink paste adjacent the side edges of the liner, which position was considered to be the most likely place for ink to reach the ductor blade.

The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential attributes thereof and, accordingly, reference should be made to the appended claims rather than to the foregoing specifications as indicating the scope of the invention.

I claim as my invention:

1. A disposable liner for use with an ink fountain having end walls and a doctor blade extending therebetween and secured along the upper edge thereof to the main body of the ink fountain, said disposable liner comprising a sheet of flexible material resistant to the corrosive action of solvents in printing inks, said sheet being formed to provide a bottom wall extending between the end walls of and covering the doctor blade of the ink fountain, said bottom wall further having a lip adapted to extend beyond the edge of the doctor blade, said sheet being formed to provide a raised portion extending the length of the sheet above the plane of the remaining portion of the sheet and adapted to fit about the upwardly extending flange of the fountain at the point of securemen of the blade to the fountain and conforming to the contour of the fountain at the point where the doctor blade is secured thereto.

2. A disposable liner for use with an ink fountain having end walls and a doctor blade extending therebetween and secured along the upper edge thereof to the main body of the ink fountain, said disposable liner comprising a sheet of flexible material resistant to the cor-rosive action of solvents in printing inks, said sheet being formed to provide a bottom wall extending between the end walls of and covering the doctor blade of the ink fountain, .said bottom wall further having a lip adapted to extend beyond the edge of the doctor blade, said sheet being formed of at least two layers, the bottom layer adapted to be positioned against the surface of the ink fountain extending only between the end walls of and covering the ductor blade of the ink fountain, the upper layer of the sheet also extending between the end walls of and covering the ductor blade of the ink fountain, and further having a lip adapted to extend beyond the edge of the ductor blade.

3. The disposable liner of claim 2 wherein said upper layer is formed of a .sheet of flexible material resistant to the corrosive action of solvents in printing inks, said bottom layer being manufactured of a paper material, said upper layer having a paper coating on the bottom surface thereof, said upper layer being glued to said bottom layer by reason of attachment between said upper layer paper coating being glued to said bottom layer.

4. The disposable liner of claim 3 wherein said bottom layer is dot glued to said upper layer paper coating to prevent warpage of the disposable liner.

5. In a duplicating or printing machine or the like, the combination of an ink fountain, an ink fountain roller adapted to convey ink from said ink fountain to printing or duplicating apparatus in the machine, a line, adapted to be removably mounted upon said ink fountain in position to retain a quantity of highly viscous duplicating or printing ink or ink paste in said fountain in contact with said ink fountain roller, but out of contact with the body of said ink fountain, and pressure plates being in contact with the end walls of said ink fountain and applying pressure along a lower most edge of the pressure plates to the side edges of said liner to prevent ink from being forced between said liner and said ink fountain adjacent the side walls thereof, and means for detachably securing said pressure plates in place to secure said liner on said ink fountain.

6. The duplicating or printing machine of claim 5 wherein said pressure plate is manufactured of cork.

7. The duplicating or printing machine of claim 5 wherein .said ink fountain includes a ductor blade, said liner extending between the end walls of said ink fountain and covering said ductor blade, said pressure plates extending from a point adjacent the free edge of said ductor blade to the edge of said doctor blade parallel to said free edge and, further extending in a curvilinear manner from said free edge upwardly and partially conforming to the contour of said ink fountain roller.

8. The duplicating or printing machine of claim 7 wherein said means for detachably .securing said pressure plates is a U-shaped spring member, said U-shaped spring member extending over the end walls of said ink fountain and further over said pressure plate to force said pressure plate downwardly against said liner on said doctor blade and further forcing said pressure plate against the side wall of said ink fountain end wall.

9. The duplicating or printing machine of claim 7 wherein said liner includes an upper and lower layer, said lower layer extending over and covering said ductor blade up to the free edge thereof, said upper layer extending beyond said free edge, said upper layer being for-med of a liner of material resistant to the corrosive action of solvents in the printing ink.

10. The duplicating or printing machine of claim 7 wherein said ink fountain includes a clamping plate along the upper edge thereof clamping said ductor blade to said ink fountain, said liner having a preformed raised portion fitting over said clamping plate, said pressure plate extending from point adjacent the free edge of said ductor blade to abutting relation with said clamping plate whereby said pressure plate can be fixedly positioned against said end wall.

11. A disposable protective liner and installation means for an ink fountain having end walls and a ductor blade therebetween and adapted to support an ink fountain roller for conveying ink from the ink fountain to printing or duplicating apparatus, the liner and installation means therefor comprising a sheet extending between said end walls and covering said ductor blade, said sheet being manufactured of a flexible material resistant to the corrosive effects of solvents in printing ink, pressure plates adapted to be located in juxtaposition to the end walls of the ink fountain and against said sheet to hold the side edges of said sheet against said ductor blade to prevent ink from being forced between said sheet and said ductor blade, said pressure plates having a bottom edge extending [from approximately the free edge of the ductor blade to a point adjacent the edge of the ductor blade parallel to the free edge, securing means for securing said pressure plates in place against both the end walls of said ink fountain and forcing the bottom edge of said pressure plates against said sheet to force said sheet against the ductor blade of the ink fountain.

12. The protective liner and installation means of claim 11 wherein said securing means includes resilient clamps extending over the end walls and their associated pressure plates, said pressure plates extending between the ductor blade and the top edge of said end walls.

13. The protective liner and installation means of claim 12 wherein said pressure plates have a front surface extending curvilinearly and contoured to partially con- [form to the outer contour of the inking roller mounted in said ink fountain.

14. The protective liner and installation means of claim 11 wherein said sheet includes a portion extending beyond the free edge of the ductor blade.

15. The protective liner and installation means of claim 14 wherein said sheet includes :an upper and lower layer, said upper layer being formed of a material resistant to the corrosive action of solvents in printing inks, said lower layer extending only to the free edge of said ductor blade.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 358,473 3/1887 Neublin-g 101365 X 2,382,103 7/1945 Sandman 101365 3,094,924 6/1963 Stark 101364 X 3,135,197 6/1964 Dutro et al 101-364 ROBERT E. PULFREY, Primary Examiner.

H. P. EWELL, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A DISPOSABLE LINER FOR USE WITH AN INK FOUNTAIN HAVING END WALLS AND A DOCTOR BLADE EXTENDING THEREBETWEEN AND SECURED ALONG THE UPPER EDGE THEREOF TO THE MAIN BODY OF THE INK FOUNTAIN, SAID DISPOSABLE LINER COMPRISING A SHEET OF FLEXIBLE MATERIAL RESISTANT TO THE CORROSIVE ACTION OF SOLVENTS IN PRINTING INKS, SAID SHEET BEING FORMED TO PROVIDE A BOTTOM WALL EXTENDING BETWEEN THE END WALLS OF AND COVERING THE DOCTOR BLADE OF THE INK FOUNTAIN, SAID BOTTOM WALL FURTHER HAVING A LIP ADAPTED TO EXTEND BEYOND THE EDGE OF THE DOCTOR BLADE, SAID SHEET BEING FORMED TO PROVIDE A RAISED PORTION EXTENDING THE LENGTH OF THE SHEET ABOVE THE PLANE OF THE REMAINING PORTION OF THE SHEET AND ADAPTED TO FIT ABOUT THE UPWARDLY EXTENDING FLANGE OF THE FOUNTAIN AT THE POINT OF SECUREMEN OF THE BLADE TO THE FOUNTAIN AND CONFORMING TO THE CONTOUR OF THE FOUNTAIN AT THE POINT WHERE THE DOCTOR BLADE IS SECURED THERETO. 